The carbon monoxide complex of [NiFe]hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Miyazaki F has been characterized by X-ray crystallography and absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopy. Nine crystal structures of the [NiFe]hydrogenase in the CO-bound and CO-liberated forms were determined at 1.2-1.4 A resolution. The exogenously added CO was assigned to be bound to the Ni atom at the Ni-Fe active site. The CO was not replaced with H(2) in the dark at 100 K, but was liberated by illumination with a strong white light. The Ni-C distances and Ni-C-O angles were about 1.77 A and 160 degrees, respectively, except for one case (1.72 A and 135 degrees ), in which an additional electron density peak between the CO and Sgamma(Cys546) was recognized. Distinct changes were observed in the electron density distribution of the Ni and Sgamma(Cys546) atoms between the CO-bound and CO-liberated structures for all the crystals tested. The novel structural features found near the Ni and Sgamma(Cys546) atoms suggest that these two atoms at the Ni-Fe active site play a role during the initial H(2)-binding process. Anaerobic addition of CO to dithionite-reduced [NiFe]hydrogenase led to a new absorption band at about 470 nm ( approximately 3000 M(-1)cm(-1)). Resonance Raman spectra (excitation at 476.5 nm) of the CO complex revealed CO-isotope-sensitive bands at 375/393 and 430 cm(-1) (368 and 413 cm(-1) for (13)C(18)O). The frequencies and relative intensities of the CO-related Raman bands indicated that the exogenous CO is bound to the Ni atom with a bent Ni-C-O structure in solution, in agreement with the refined structure determined by X-ray crystallography.

The one-electron oxidized species of a Ni(II)-phenolate complex has been shown to be in the Ni(II)-phenoxyl radical state at room temperature and the Ni(III)-phenolate state at < -120 degrees C, indicating that the oxidation state is temperature dependent.

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Group 10 metal(II) complexes of H2tbu-salen (H2tbu-salen = N,N'-bis(3',5'-di-tert-butylsalicylidene)ethylenediamine) and H2tbu-salcn (H2tbu-salcn = N,N'-bis(3',5'-di-tert-butylsalicylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediamine) containing two 2,4-di(tert-butyl)phenol moieties, [Ni(tbu-salen)] (1a), [Ni(tbu-salcn)] (1b), [Pd(tbu-salen)] (2a), [Pd(tbu-salcn)] (2b), and [Pt(tbu-salen)] (3), were prepared and structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction, and the electronic structures of their one-electron-oxidized species were established by spectroscopic and electrochemical methods. All the complexes have a mononuclear structure with two phenolate oxygens coordinated in a very similar square-planar geometry. These complexes exhibited similar absorption spectra in CH2Cl2, indicating that they all have a similar structure in solution. Cyclic voltammograms of the complexes showed a quasi-reversible redox wave at E1/2 = 0.82-1.05 V (vs Ag/AgCl), corresponding to formation of the relatively stable one-electron-oxidized species. The electrochemically oxidized or Ce(IV)-oxidized species of 1a, 2a, and 3 displayed a first-order decay with a half-life of 83, 20, and 148 min at -20 degrees C, respectively. Ni(II) complexes 1a and 1b were converted to the phenoxyl radicals upon one-electron oxidation in CH2Cl2 above -80 degrees C and to the Ni(III)-phenolate species below -120 degrees C. The temperature-dependent conversion was reversible with the Ni(III)-phenolate ground state and was found to be a valence tautomerism governed by the solvent. One-electron-oxidized 1b was isolated as [Ni(tbu-salcn)]NO3 (4) having the Ni(II)-phenoxyl radical ground state. One-electron-oxidized species of the Pd(II) complexes 2a and 2b were different from those of the Ni(II) complexes, the Pd(II)-phenoxyl radical species being the ground state in CH2Cl2 in the range 5-300 K. The one-electron-oxidized form of 2b, [Pd(tbu-salcn)]NO3 (5), which was isolated as a dark green powder, was found to be a Pd(II)-phenoxyl radical complex. On the other hand, the ESR spectrum of the one-electron-oxidized species of Pt(II) complex 3 exhibited a temperature-independent large g anisotropy in CH2Cl2 below -80 degrees C, while its resonance Raman spectrum at -60 degrees C displayed nu8a of the phenoxyl radical band at 1600 cm-1. These results indicated that the ground state of the Pt(II)-phenoxyl radical species has a large distribution of the radical electron spin at the Pt center. One-electron oxidation of 3 gave [Pt(tbu-salen)]NO3 (6) as a solid, where the oxidation state of the Pt center was determined to be ca. +2.5 from the XPS and XANES measurements.